Rob Darracott, chief executive of Pharmacy Voice, ignited a fiery debate at this year's Association of Pharmacy Technicians (APTUK) conference when he posed the question: “Is it clear what pharmacy technicians are trained to do?” 

“No” was the resounding answer from many of the pharmacy technicians in the room, who felt that their roles were often undefined, particularly at different stages of training, and in addition, that it is pharmacists who often don’t understand the role of the pharmacy technician. “It is difficult in community pharmacy as there are blurred roles with dispensing assistants,” said one delegate. 

This was a recurring theme throughout the conference. Nigel Clarke, chair of the General Pharmaceutical Council (GPhC), acknowledged that there is no detailed baseline knowledge of what pharmacy technicians do across the sector and that research is needed in this area to help inform the training and education standards. “This is a varied profession with people doing different kinds of jobs, so core training takes people to a certain point, but the kind of job you do afterwards may require additional education and training that kicks in after you go on the register,” he told delegates. “We need to make sure that the needs of the profession are properly aligned to the landscape against which you are practising when looking at education and training.”

However, as one delegate pointed out: “Why do our roles have to be defined? We don’t need to nail down our roles in every standard operating procedure. Part of being a professional is to have the principles and to use our professional judgement, but it doesn’t have to be set in stone.” 

Liz Fidler, head of pharmacy at Health Education England, agreed, saying: “We need to move away from task lists and focus on how to benefit patients.” She added that, in essence, pharmacy technicians support patients to make the most of their medicines, which can encompass any number of tasks and roles.

“We all know that healthcare is changing very rapidly… and part of that change is a redefining of roles and responsibilities across healthcare,” said Nigel Clarke, who pointed out that the GPhC’s proposed standards for pharmacy professionals tend to be much more about outcomes rather than being prescriptive about what people do.